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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  20. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. The train ________________ at six o'clock.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. wax — to grow
  3. degree — an amount
  4. game — a match
  5. game — wild animals
  6. degree — from a university
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. row — to paddle
  9. vault — a safe
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. leaves — of a tree
  12. cell — in biology
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. cell — a phone
  15. degree — temperature
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. vault — an arched ceiling
  20. vault — in gymnastics
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. row — a line
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. leaves — to go away

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com